Talk 1: Debates on axioms, empirical scrutiny and poverty measurement (Dr Curtis Huffman and Dr Héctor Nájera)
Talk 2: Reliability and poverty measurement (Dr Héctor Nájera)
Talk 3: Validity and poverty measurement (Dr Héctor Nájera)

View a YouTube video of the talks (for timings of specific talks and translations see the YouTube video description).

Talk 1: Debates on axioms, empirical scrutiny and poverty measurement

Dr Curtis Huffman and Dr Héctor Nájera (UNAM, Mexico)

There is no such thing as a perfect or correct poverty index.  All indices, even those based on axioms, are befouled by measurement error.  However, measurement error is rarely estimated and reported when producing poverty indices.  The talk focuses on the meaning, implications, and importance of measurement error and how it differs from sampling error.  It will show that measurement error is intrinsic to any measure, regardless of the theory and definition underlying the index in question.

Course materials

Measurement models and error (Dr Héctor Nájera) (PDF, 1,675kB)

Modelos y error de medición (Dr Héctor Nájera) (PDF, 1,493kB)

Key readings 

See page 21 of Advanced Poverty Research Methods Online Course - Programme (PDF, 673kB)

 

Talk 2: Reliability and poverty measurement

Dr Héctor Nájera (UNAM, Mexico)

Reliability is a governing principle in science and is a necessary condition for good measurement.  Unreliable poverty scores affect population orderings and hinders the capacity of identifying the poor from the not poor.  The talk provides the basic definition of reliability, underlines its importance and describes the different ways in which it can be estimated for any poverty index.

Course materials

Reliability (Dr Héctor Nájera) (PDF, 1,792kB)

Confiabilidad (Dr Héctor Nájera) (PDF, 1,739kB)

Key readings

See page 22 of Advanced Poverty Research Methods Online Course - Programme (PDF, 673kB)

 

Talk 3: Validity and poverty measurement

Dr Héctor Nájera (UNAM, Mexico)

Validity is a second key principle in science as it allows investigations to make meaningful interpretation of the results. In the case of poverty indices, validity concerns with all the evidence that we can put forward to justify that the scores of our index have the meaning we think they have, i.e., that the poverty index measures poverty and not something correlated with poverty. The talk focuses on the different types of validity and the methods to assess it.

Course materials

Validity (Dr Héctor Nájera) (PDF, 1,730kB)

Validez (Dr Héctor Nájera) (PDF, 1,764kB)

Key readings

See page 22 of Advanced Poverty Research Methods Online Course - Programme (PDF, 673kB)